NY Times Review of NY Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall
Very honored to have been a part of the New York Youth Symphony’s spring concert at Carnegie Hall last month! The concert was also praised by David Allen of the New York Times, who wrote:
“‘Bold and fearless.’ That’s the instruction to the musicians that marks the first page of Molly Joyce’s ‘Fresh’ (2014), which had its world premiere as part of the New York Youth Symphony’s spring concert at Carnegie Hall. And it could stand as a description of the orchestra’s playing throughout Sunday’s program, especially in a properly exciting performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Ms. Joyce’s ‘Fresh,’ commissioned as part of the Youth Symphony’s valuable First Music Program for young composers, made an impression too.
About nine minutes long, it opens with a snare drumroll that gives way to a pulsating dance rhythm at disco tempo. That rhythm slowly and stealthily infects the orchestra, thumping away in high strings at the end.
‘Fresh’ teems and boils, its textures grimy in the low strings and brass at one moment, glinting the next.”